"TonyL" wrote in message
...
I have a couple of elderly Wharfedale speaker units, originally bought
as
kits. Since popping one of the 12" bass drivers they have been in
retirement
but I recently replaced them with some generic 12" units and they
sound OK,
considering their age. I want to use them as super duper PC speakers
and
need an amplifier to drive them from the line level output of my
Creative
Soundblaster card. The advice of you pundits would be appreciated.
I'm guessing around 50 W per channel. No frills, just low THD, low
noise,
cheap, flat response. I'm prepared to build stuff so long as the
component
count is low... monolithic amp modules, perhaps ?
What about something like this ?
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...5& doy=search
That tempts me because I happen to have a 20A 13.8 V power supply
lying
around.
Thanks for your help
TonyL
The speakers should have a badge or label on them somewhere which will
indicate the model.
Wharfedales up to about the Glendale were usually rated about 30W, 50W
at most. The bigger speakers were often rated 50W as they were less
efficient.
Two things to remember:
You can blow a speaker (usually the tweeters) with an underpowered amp,
but you are unlikely to damage them with too much power - they will
complain long before that happens.
Most PC sound cards are designed to work with poor quality inefficient
desktop speakers. As such the designers don't worry too much about noise
levels. With a good amp and half decent speakers that noise could be
objectionable (particularly buzz from the power supply,) so if you go
down this road be prepared to have the speakers a distance away from
your desktop.
As others have said, have a look around on fleabay for anything by NAD,
Cambridge, Marantz, Sony, or even visit your local Richer Sounds who may
have a Manager's Special that suits the need. Ideally you should feed
the amp from from a sound card line output which will have a much better
level match and lower distortion than the speaker output. The only
disadvantage is that the Windoze volume control may not adjust the line
level.
Finally, beware of the earth loop buzz as both the amp and the PC will
be earthed. If it does occur in this case disconnect the earth wire in
the amp mains plug but leave the PC earthed.
--
Woody
harrogate three at ntlworld dot com
PC to Wharfdales
Linear Mode
